Professional Documents
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STRESS
RELIEF
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1456-M6BF-9F1G
1 Warm-up
2 Key words
STRESS RELIEF
Now read about an unusual method of relieving stress involving volunteers from Madrid, Spain. Find
out the following information.
1.
With a Tarzan-like scream, Pablo Varela swung his 6.
There was bitter laughter when Felix Gonzalez, a taxi
jackhammer into the wall of a neat hotel bedroom. driver, accompanied his punch with a cry of "M30!" -
A mountain of plaster fell to the floor to join a sea of Madrid’s ring road.
broken mirror-glass crunching under his boots. 7.
"Contestants" then had their pulse, blood pressure
2.
"I’m exhausted, but very relaxed. I’ve never done and heartbeat measured by a nurse, before answering
anything like this before. I recommend it to anyone," a questions on what was most stressful in their life.
he said, before laying into a marble bathroom. Mr 8.
Waiting to be tested, Angel Gutierrez, 33, spoke
Varela, 30, a teacher "with difficult pupils", was calmly enough, but his knee couldn’t stop shaking
among 40 volunteers who joined in the light-hearted as he described his job as a strategic consultant for
destruction at a Madrid hotel yesterday, organised by major banks. "I take two or three planes a week. I
a hotel chain wanting to refurbish an old building - try to make time for my 15-month-old son, and I do
and relieve stress. competitive swimming and train late in the evening.
3.
"We put together our need to demolish our rooms I’m always running to the next thing and arriving late."
with a government report that Madrilenos suffer high 9.
Was this a satisfying life? "Oh yes. We live in
stress levels, and invented the idea of ’roomolition’. an accelerated city, everything’s at speed. My wife
We advertised for volunteers and received 1,000 understands. But when we have another child I’ll
applicants," said Enrique Tellecha, a manager of NH have to cut down the flights."
Hotels. 10.
Sergio Quintana, 31, glanced repeatedly at his two
4.
He flinched as an exploding television sent people phones and his motorcycle keys. "I work all hours, at
backing out of a room. "I’m surprised how a discotheque at night and as events manager and site
enthusiastic people have been," he said. "It just shows location manager for big shops in the day. I sleep five
how stressed they are." hours a night."
5.
Sixty applicants chosen by psychologists crowded 11.
So why does he keep it up? "To pay the mortgage,
into the lobby for a special test to produce 40 finalists travel and live well. But it’ll be nice to enjoy a moment
considered stressed enough to destroy a room. The of liberation."
first test was to hit a life-size puppet of a boss, with a 12.
Carlos Garcia, 32, was breathless and covered in dust.
cigar clamped in its jaws, and shout out the thing that
He peeled off his white overalls and checked his
most stressed them.
watch. "I work in a savings bank and I should be there
now," he said. "Must rush."
STRESS RELIEF
1. A powerful, hand-held tool for drilling into hard surfaces (US English) (noun, P1)
2. a hard substance used to shape walls and ceilings (noun, P1)
3. not serious (adj., P2)
4. a toy that has the shape of a person or animal (noun, P5)
5. special trousers that are worn over regular clothes to protect them (plural noun, P12)
5 Phrasal verbs
Put the infinitive forms of the underlined phrasal verbs in the article next to their correct definition:
The underlined clauses are called reduced relative clauses. They begin with the past
participle (‘chosen’) or -ing form (‘wanting’).
These clauses can be used instead of relative clauses to give information about what
something/someone does (-ing clauses), e.g. ‘a hotel chain wanting to refurbish an old
building’ (= ‘a hotel chain that wanted to refurbish an old building’) or about what is
done to something/someone (past participle clauses), e.g. ‘Sixty applicants chosen by
psychologists’ (= ‘Sixty applicants who were chosen by psychologists’).
Find another example of each type of reduced relative clause from the text.
STRESS RELIEF
7 Grammar practice 1
Complete the sentences using the following verbs in the ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’ form:
belong convict cover develop feature invite shout call wait work
1. Someone called Dalia Jones rang while you were at the meeting.
2. Out of 50 people to the party, only 25 showed up.
3. Did you see that strange man aggressively in the street?
4. There were five candidates to be interviewed for the assistant manager position.
5. Rescue workers found a suitcase to one of the victims of the plane crash.
6. The musician released an album all his greatest hits.
7. The new product, by the company’s R&D department after 10 years of research,
began to dominate the market.
8. The directors decided to hold a board meeting a variety of important issues.
9. At 8 o’clock in the evening, the office was completely empty apart from Jack hard to
meet a deadline.
10. The accountant of fraud was sent to prison for five years.
8 Grammar practice 2
Make one sentence from two using either an ‘-ing clause’ or an ‘-ed clause’ to give information about
the words in bold.
Example: The sales representative had an interesting surname. It began with ‘D’.
The sales representative had an interesting surname beginning with ‘D’.
1. I bought a new pair of shoes. They were made in Italy.
2. She wants to book a room. It must overlook the sea.
3. The new marketing strategy was discussed at yesterday’s meeting. Can you tell me about it?
4. The building was destroyed by the fire. Did they rebuild it?
5. Go straight ahead and you will arrive at a small road. The road leads to his house.
6. You might receive certain emails that claim to be from your bank. Beware of them.
7. Samuel works for a multinational corporation. It was established over 50 years ago.
8. We are a diversified consultancy agency. We employ over 200 dedicated professionals.
9. A new film is going to be released in the cinema next week. It’s called ‘Sunny Days’
10. On my street there’s a wonderful new restaurant. It serves Italian food.
9 Talking point
What do you think of the method of stress relief described in the article? What other methods are
effective? How do you deal with stress in your work?
STRESS RELIEF
Key
1. Warm-up
Brainstorm ideas, e.g. unrealistic deadlines, dealing with difficult customers, heavy workloads, etc.
2. Key words
1. Felix Gonzalez 2. Carlos Garcia 3. Pablo Varela 4. Sergio Quintana 5. Angel Gutierrez
5. Phrasal verbs
Point out that in ‘-ing clauses’, verbs which are not normally used in the continuous form can be used in the -ing
form (e.g. wanting).
-ing clause:...a sea of broken mirror-glass crunching beneath his boots
past participle clause: 40 finalists considered stressed enough to destroy a room..
7. Grammar practice 1
8. Grammar practice 2
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